The Long Island community of Massapequa is getting support from President Donald Trump for refusing to change its school mascot from Native American imagery, despite a state mandate. The administration is investigating whether New York officials are discriminating against Massapequa by threatening to withhold funding.
Jon Parmenter is a historian of colonial North America at Cornell University, specializing in the history of indigenous peoples in the Northeast.
Parmenter says: “Here we have a fascinating example of self-indigenization – a group of non-Indigenous people with the political clout to recruit the bully pulpit of the Executive Branch – trying to maintain their claim to an identity appropriated from another group of people long since displaced from that geographic region and disempowered politically.
“The self-indigenizers leverage arguments that claim the power to determine whether or not the action is ‘honoring’ the Massapequas without actual consultation or approval from that community ostensibly being honored. The tried-and-true justification of ‘well, it’s always been this way’ is then trotted out to try and discredit the idea of potential change.
“‘Whataboutism’ completes the trifecta, citing the Kansas City Chiefs as supposed evidence that justifies the use of a stereotypical ‘Indian Head’ mascot (which the Kansas City Chiefs do not use). This demonstrates how far settler colonial denialism has come in this country – people without any connection to Indigenous ancestry or culture can simply assert that identity for themselves, heedless of any concern for the harmful stereotypes perpetuated by their actions, because those negative impacts are in fact the underlying rationale.”
For interviews contact Kaitlyn Serrao, cell (607) 882-1140, kms465@cornell.edu.
